1 year minus 1 month

Does every parent think their child is a genius?  Because I think Colin is a genius!

 Colin turned 11 months last week and I just can't believe we are so close to the big birthday (the real one, not the fake ones we celebrate every month!)

 So far Colin has learned to wave, give high fives, clap, and to clap MY hands too!

He now has 7 teeth...4 up top and 3 below 

He loves to climb stairs, much to my chagrin, and to play "catch" with dad!

He actually has quite the little arm!  

(Come on pro-baseball career!  We are counting on you for our retirement!) 

Colin still prefers his left hand, just like his daddy!

He is such a sweet kid and is soooo good! 

Happy 11 months, Colin!  Only another month until you actually get some CAKE!!

What Would YOU Say?

Yesterday I went to Walmart to get most of the Thanksgiving groceries...it must have been senior discount day or something because I was stopped by no less than 5 old people who wanted to poke and coo at Colin.  

Anyway, one of the encounters was a little strange:

Old Lady:  Oh he is so cute!  Where does he get his red hair?

Me: Well, my husband doesn't have red hair and I don't have red hair, so I...

Old Lady: (interrupting me) SHAME ON YOU tsk tsk!

Me: (shocked that she is insinuating that I have had extra-marital relations and the fact that she is like 70 years old AND insinuating that I cheated on my husband)  Uhhh, well, my husband is Irish so we are pretty sure it comes from his line...

Old Lady: Hmmm...



And then she walked away!

WHAT THE HECK???  


What would you have said?

Montego Bay

To break up the return trip, we spent two days in Montego Bay at the Rose Hall Ritz-Carlton.  After searching for a reasonably priced hotel in the Montego Bay area, the Ritz came up as the cheapest!   

We really liked the resort, but we definitely felt like we were a little out of our "class" range, if you know what I mean.  While the service and the accommodations were amazing, I felt like such a poser - like a child sitting at the rich and snobby adult table at Thanksgiving.  

Kevin and I were trying to quantify how you know you don't belong at the resort in which you are staying, and we came up with this list:

• You still say "thank you" to the help
• You have to ask how much everything costs
• You haven't had any "work" done
• You skip breakfast because you don't want to spend $30 on eggs
• You are still on your first marriage
• You carry your own bags just so you don't have to tip the bell hop
• You are the whipper-snapper whose presence the other patrons resent

Have you ever felt that way?  Add to my list in your comments :)

   

See all those empty deck chairs?  Let's just say that the resort was a little empty (hence our amazing deal)!

We had the beach all to ourselves!

I love these boys :)

The view from our room:

At the Nursery

Beaches has a great nursery for the little guys and a Kids Club for the older kids filled with crafts and activities.  As we were there in the off season, the ratio of nannies to babies was ridiculous...one baby to 3 nannies!  Wherever we went around the resort, people knew Colin's name because the nannies would take him on walks...he was quite the celebrity!

Colin playing with PollyAnna

I picked Colin up and then handed him back to take this picture...he wants his daddy and nobody else will do!  Not even all of his new friends!

Notice that Colin's name was the only one on the sign in/out log?  He had a pretty sweet gig!

Cliff Jumping at Rick's Cafe

Right before our trip, we saw a special on the Travel Channel about the top 10 Caribbean hot spots and one of them happened to be in Negril, Jamaica!  Rick's Cafe is a bar/restaurant sitting on top of a jagged cliff with the most amazing blue water beneath.  

You just can't help but want to jump!

Well, locals do fancy/crazy/stupid cliff dives for tips (they are quite annoyingly relentless in the collection).   These Jamaicans are crazy, I tell you!  Anyway, everyone is welcome to jump so while Kevin was jumping, I took the pictures!

This is pre-jump...he's only a little bit nervous!

Kevin jumped first from a 10 ft drop and explored the cave with his "personal lifeguard" (anyway for these guys to get a tip!)

Jumping at 25 ft

And at 35 ft

Notice the ledge 80 ft in the air?  The "Bird Man" waits until he collects $20 in tips and then he flies!

  

Like I said - CRAZY!

 

The view was just amazing and we enjoyed watching the sun go down.

 

I couldn't resist!

This is the view from the 35ft jump spot...gorgeous and scary!

All Rugged

There are few things more fun (or FUNNER!!) than riding ATVs.  If I had all the money in the world, I would definitely buy them (and jet skis, and a boat, and a lot of other things too!)

Anyway...

When Kevin and I were in Aruba two years ago, we went on an ATV tour and loved it and decided that the amazingly tropical Jamaica would be a fun place to ride.  

Jamaica did not disappoint!

Part way through the ride it started to pour...as it does this everyday, the roads are a little muddy which only made the ride all that more AWESOME!

This is at the top of the mountain we rode up...notice the grass and mud on my face, shirt, etc

Yeah, to say we got messy is an understatement!

Okay, Kevin had to take a picture of this:

 Notice the girl?  Oh, I guess I should explain.  That person in the red basketball shorts is a GIRL!  As we were on the bus picking up people from their respective resorts, we stopped at this really posh resort and I expected some clean, happy, wealthy looking people to get on.  Instead, four loud scary looking thug lesbian tatted and pierced girls got on that freaked everyone on the bus out.  The above was the meanest.  And she almost rode herself off a cliff.  No joke.

Overlooking the jungle  

We are covered in mud!

As we were driving back, I kept noticing signs warning people of stealing electricity.  I just wanted to get a picture of one of the power lines with tons of cords coming out.

We Be Jammin'

To celebrate the end of Kevin's billable year, we spent 9 days in Jamaica soaking up the sun, laying on the beach, and discovering the reefs.  It was a great trip!  

We spent 7 days at the Beaches Negril resort in the town of Negril on the west coast of Jamaica.  Boasting a seven mile white sand beach, Negril offers year round sun and constant offers to sell you weed, I mean, to take you to the "farmer."  

Beaches is the family all inclusive resort of the Sandals Resort company and we went there for two reasons: scuba diving included...and nanny services too!  Like I said, it was a great trip :) 

 The resort has an affiliation with Sesame Street so there were Breakfasts with Elmo, Sesame Street Parades, etc.  Kevin with his buddy Oscar the Grouch

 

Our room was the second from the right on the second story

Kevin getting off the boat after one of his dives

 

The view from our room

Our room (right after clearing away all of our junk before checking out)

Next to the kiddie pool and the fun water slides

The splash pad 

The lazy river (which Colin LOVED!)

 A giraffe?  Not sure why it was there, but it was photo-worthy!

With Bob Marley...if I never hear another Bob Marley song for the rest of my life, I will die a happy girl!  

Especially on the never-want-to-hear list: Buffalo Soldier and One Love

The adult pool

Beautiful beach